Franco Maria Ricci (2 December 1937 – 10 September 2020) was an Italian art publisher and magazine editor. Amongst his publications is '' FMR'', a

Milan Milan ( , , ; ) is a city in northern Italy, regional capital of Lombardy, the largest city in Italy by urban area and the List of cities in Italy, second-most-populous city proper in Italy after Rome. The city proper has a population of nea ...

-based bi-monthly art magazine published in Italian, English, German, French, and Spanish for over 27 years. Ricci is known for having created limited editions honoring particular independent artists, which are characterized by their tinted handmade paper, and black silk-bound hardcovers with silver or gold lettering stamping. He sold his publishing house, Ricci Editore, to Marilena Ferrari in 2007 only to regain control in 2015.

''FMR'' magazine

The first issue of ''FMR'' was published in 1982. The title ''FMR'' is made of the initials of the publisher's name and also, when pronounced in French, sounds like , a word with rich connotations that translates as "fleeting" or "transitory". It contained noteworthy iconological and

art Art is a diverse range of cultural activity centered around ''works'' utilizing creative or imaginative talents, which are expected to evoke a worthwhile experience, generally through an expression of emotional power, conceptual ideas, tec ...

historical studies, illustrated with large photographs and drawings reproduced on a black background. Among FMR's high-profile admirers were

Federico Fellini Federico Fellini (; 20 January 1920 – 31 October 1993) was an Italian film director and screenwriter. He is known for his distinctive style, which blends fantasy and baroque images with earthiness. He is recognized as one of the greatest and ...

, who called it the "black pearl", and

Jacqueline Kennedy Jacqueline Lee Kennedy Onassis ( ; July 28, 1929 – May 19, 1994) was an American writer, book editor, and socialite who served as the first lady of the United States from 1961 to 1963, as the wife of President John F. Kennedy. A popular f ...

, who declared that it was "the most beautiful magazine in the world". In December 2002, twenty years after the release of the first issue, Ricci sold the magazine to Marilena Ferrari's company Art'é to focus on his old ambition to build the largest maze in the world, " Labirinto della Masone", in Fontanellato. In 2003 art critic and curator Flaminio Gualdoni replaced Ricci as editor of the magazine. In 2007 ''FMR'' was augmented by ''FMR White'', a sister publication devoted to contemporary art. Over the years the two publications featured many notable contributors, including Alberto Arbasino, Peter Bloch,

Jorge Luis Borges Jorge Francisco Isidoro Luis Borges Acevedo ( ; ; 24 August 1899 – 14 June 1986) was an Argentine short-story writer, essayist, poet and translator regarded as a key figure in Spanish literature, Spanish-language and international literatur ...

Italo Calvino Italo Calvino (, ; ;. RAI (circa 1970), retrieved 25 October 2012. 15 October 1923 – 19 September 1985) was an Italian novelist and short story writer. His best-known works include the ''Our Ancestors'' trilogy (1952–1959), the '' Cosm ...

Umberto Eco Umberto Eco (5 January 1932 – 19 February 2016) was an Italian Medieval studies, medievalist, philosopher, Semiotics, semiotician, novelist, cultural critic, and political and social commentator. In English, he is best known for his popular ...

, Giovanni Mariotti,

Octavio Paz Octavio Paz Lozano (March 31, 1914 – April 19, 1998) was a Mexican poet and diplomat. For his body of work, he was awarded the 1977 Jerusalem Prize, the 1981 Miguel de Cervantes Prize, the 1982 Neustadt International Prize for Literature, a ...

, Nicola Spinosa, and Giovanni Testori. Both ''FMR'' and ''FMR White'' ceased publication in 2009. In 2015, after completing the seven-hectares wide maze also featuring an art museum and a library, Ricci bought back the copyrights of ''FMR'' with the potential intent to resume publication.

Other publications

Ricci is known for having published the original edition of the '' Codex Seraphinianus'' and some of

Guido Crepax Guido Crepas (15 July 1933 – 31 July 2003), better known by his pen name Guido Crepax, was an Italian comics artist. He is most famous for his character ''Valentina (Italian comics), Valentina'', created in 1965 and very representative of the sp ...

's books.

References

External links

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Ricci editoreMonth Magazine interview
{{DEFAULTSORT:Ricci, Franco Maria 1937 births 2020 deaths Businesspeople from Parma Italian magazine publishers (people) Italian publishers (people) Italian graphic designers Italian magazine founders Italian magazine editors